O DUO & LOTTE BETTS DEAN : WINDS OF DESTINY

Played in the round in St Magnus Cathedral.    The unusual line-up of voice, piano and percussion presents Hungarian nonsense rhymes alongside classics from the American Civil War  such as Shenandoah and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, When Johnny comes marching home etc.   A battery of percussion doesn't necessarily mean 'loud' and here it brings subtle arrangements of Hungarian nonsense ryhmes by the Hungarian poet Sándor Weöres in typically quirky, whimsical and enchanting versions by Gyorgy Ligeti.    The second part of the concert pays tribute to the giant of American music, George Crumb, who died earlier this year.  His music is unique and fiercely emotional with an otherworldly soundscape.   This is one of several books of classsic American songs which are wrapped in a new, and often ethereal, backdrop of tingling, tapping and thundering percussion.      These two works are rarely heard and, with a performance in the round, it's possible to get up close to a phenomenal event.